Chapter 122: Just Missing Two Fools

In the blink of an eye, the battle at the Outside had already ended.

【NiKo used AK-47 to headshot JamYoung】

【Ori used M4A1 to headshot NiKo (JamYoung assist)】

"Nice job, Xiaojue." Jiaoyang put away his M4A1, switched to his Pistol, and stared fixedly at the Red Box, guarding against a fifth person appearing to trade the kill.

After discovering no one was following up, he quickly retreated to the position that had just been burned, replacing the empty magazine of his M4A1.

"It's fine, the last one just came out of the T-Hall, we heard the footsteps!"

Considering the presence of the Smoke Grenade at the Main Door, and that support from the Inner Site would not be fast enough, advent and aumaN did not choose to run to the Outside; instead, the moment the battle at the Outside broke out, they chose to push out of the Iron Door and Yellow Room.

It was during this time that good news came from the Outside: Jiaoyang had secured a quad-kill.

At the same time, the only remaining opponent, olofmeister, could no longer hold back and revealed his footsteps.

"Do you want to take this ACE?" aumaN knew that on the international stage, especially against a team like FaZe, a five-kill would be more likely to make it into various highlight reels.

Knowing the last person's position now, the others could let Jiaoyang try for it.

"No need. The Bomb has already been dropped at the Outside; it's better for Zhong and me to watch the Bomb in a Crossfire."

Jiaoyang was already at low health; not to mention whether he could get this five-kill, even if he did, the teammates pulling the crosshair and providing information would likely die, and sacrificing the Economy for a single shot was not worth it.

The key was that the quad-kill just now was already shocking enough; if it weren't for JamYoung risking his life to abandon the Dark Side of the Red Box and setting up a Crossfire with him, plus his familiarity with this map, Nuke, he would surely have been dead without a chance.

"Watch out for the T-Hall Ladder!" Jiaoyang quickly reminded them.

advent and aumaN had no new information, indicating that olofmeister had gone silent again.

Jiaoyang keenly sensed this; something was wrong!

There were only three places olofmeister could go: saving his gun at the Terrorist base, fighting at the Outside, or the one most characteristic of a Free Agent: circling the Ladder.

【olofmeister used AK-47 to headshot advent】

【aumaN used AUG to headshot olofmeister】

"Damn! That was close!" aumaN took a deep breath.

If it weren't for Jiaoyang's reminder, he and advent would still be foolishly holding the T-Hall entrance, waiting for a silent retreat.

Thinking about how the two of them were almost picked off in the T-Hall, with only zhokiNg and the low-health Jiaoyang remaining, aumaN couldn't help but feel a lingering fear.

According to his own thinking, a 1v4 Clutch would usually involve saving the gun early, leaving a Hero AK for the big players on the team like Jiaoyang or NiKo.

Is this the thought process of a legendary Free Agent?

Not giving up even when there is only a sliver of hope?

How did Jiaoyang even notice it?

aumaN felt the gap in understanding between himself and these two.

However, off the field, the streamers and the audience didn't think so: "olofmeister has already crept to the Ladder; soon he will see the two CTs beneath his feet."

"The trajectory on the Ladder is random, but olofmeister is already pre-aiming the Positioning between the two heads.

77

"advent, goodbye!"

"What?! aumaN turned and looked up instantly! He actually completed the Positioning before olofmeister fired?"

"What kind of reaction is this?"

"Or is this a battle of wits between Free Agents?!"

"This round from VG has brought us too many surprises; it's hard to imagine these plays coming from an unknown Asian team."

【Oh! God, this is terrifying, the person actually turned around; if this weren't an offline tournament, I would definitely inspect his equipment thoroughly.】

【Maybe while repairing the computer, aumaN did some small trick; I can't imagine why he would turn around and kill someone in an instant.】

【Hey, did you people forget that VG lost the match in map one because of computer issues?】

【Yes, I also think VG could have won the match in overtime last time; didn't you see Ori's terrifying dominance on the field?】

【But then again, that triple-kill of his was indeed a bit exaggerated; to be targeted by fire and flashes and still accurately spray the Red Box.】

【JamYoung trusted Ori, and Ori truly responded to his trust!】

【This is the teamwork that the East emphasizes; if this were the American server's ladder, the person in the Dark Side of the Red Box would have been hiding dead long ago. I think we should reflect on this.】

【FUCK! I should reflect on why I just bet 2:0; it feels like VG is going to take map two! What should I do?】

【Oh, buddy, FaZe only lost the first Long Gun Round, and this is the Terrorist side, no need to worry so much.】

First half ends, 3:12.

The domestic stream chat was full of joy: "That was truly light and easy; I don't know how FaZe dared to leave Nuke open."

【Are 3 points enough? Are 3 points enough?】

【Do you understand the number one Nuke in Asia? This is the Nuke that beat the champion NaVi!】

【Are you talking about the Nuke map or Jiaoyang, the core?】

【That must be the Nuke! If it's Jiaoyang, he must be the world's number one core!】

Besides the bragging, there were also some serious analytical comments—

【It's because FaZe is too afraid of Vertigo; they haven't practiced it, and VG has many tactics.】

To a large extent, it truly explained FaZe's pick-and-ban strategy, but clearly, FaZe's performance did not achieve this strategy.

"No, where did you guys see that FaZe practiced Nuke? Just look at NiKo as Commander—"

【Hahahaha, so true, the hot-headed Commander.】

【Everything goes back to that Pistol Round for rain; if FaZe hadn't lost the Economy at the start and failed to build it up, VG wouldn't have been able to play so easily.】

【I'm a FaZe fan; at first I thought it was really karrigan's problem, but now it seems FaZe needs karrigan too much.】

【But after such a scene, karrigan probably won't pay attention to NiKo; rumor has it he was kicked by NiKo.】

【If NiKo and karrigan have a conflict, NiKo could also go find his brother hunter; brother CS is also quite good.】

The break between the first and second halves is not long, and the match begins once again.

The caster brings the topic back: "Alright, it's the second half. This Pistol Round is crucial; if they lose, FaZe will have no room for error."

This time, FaZe acts as the Counter-Terrorist side, while VG acts as the Terrorist side.

"aumaN and I will go K1, the others go Iron Plate, let's execute a B split." advent's tactical setup is exceptionally simple.

On one hand, there aren't many utility items in a Pistol Round anyway, so it's difficult to play it in a complex way.

On the other hand, they are leading by a lot because the whole team's current form is red-hot, so it's not suitable to play slowly.

advent has a Smoke Grenade and a Flashbang, plus a P250 he gave to Jiaoyang, while aumaN has a Smoke Grenade and a CZ.

Two Smoke Grenades are thrown at the start for Outside, and all five Terrorists on the map are moving at high speed.

Once these two Smoke Grenades bloom, anyone can tell that VG is more likely to hit B, but NiKo doesn't think so.

"They must be faking to make us go down the Pipe, be careful of the Inner Site."

According to his observations, with this VG team, the more you think they will play a certain way, the less likely they are to do so.

On the surface, it seems like the two line-up Smoke Grenades are putting huge pressure on the Underground, but in reality, the pressure is actually on the Inner Site!

Precisely because of this, he, at the Inner Site, must withstand the coming pressure!

NiKo is focused, aiming at every position where an enemy might appear.

Until a teammate at the Iron Plate calls for help: "Three at Iron Plate!"

【olofmeister used USP to get a Headshot kill on JamYoung】

【GuardiaN used USP to get a Headshot kill on zhokiNg】

【Ori used P250 to get a Headshot kill on olofmeister】

【GuardiaN used USP to get a Headshot kill on Ori】

On the other side, rain also shouts: "They're down K1!"

【rain used USP to get a Headshot kill on aumaN (through smoke)】

【rain used USP to get a Headshot kill on advent】

NiKo: "————"

They clearly won, so why is there not even a shred of the joy of victory?

The previously cheerful CN stream chat is also doused with a bucket of cold water:

【?】

【Is this FaZe's Pistol Round? As expected, they really have their ways!】

【It's over, are 12 points enough?】

【Nuke is a CT map! It's really hard to say————】

【Look at the Long Gun Round! Don't mess up! VG!】

Having lost the Pistol Round and without a Bomb Planting, VG naturally chooses to ECO the next round.

Unfortunately, even with a Pipe Smoke Grenade in the ECO round, the Bomb carrier still didn't find an opportunity for Bomb Planting.

This means that for the first Long Gun Round of the second half, VG will be lacking some utility items.

"Oh! I wonder if the failure in the Pistol Round has left VG needing to find their feel again."

"In any case, they seem to want to slow down the tempo this round."

"The entire formation is more focused on controlling Outside, while B tong is left for aumaN, the Free Agent, to take solo."

"?! This move by GuardiaN!"

"The sniper is pushing up at the Iron Plate! aumaN clearly didn't expect it; he was taken out by a close-range shot while peeking."

"At the same time, rain at Outside was actually headshot by ori? What is the director doing? No footage for this either?"

"The kills on both sides have clearly pushed the development of the situation; VG is launching an attack on the Inner Site!"

"But does VG really have enough utility to support them in hitting the Inner Site?"

"NEO at the Inner Site threw a Main Door Smoke Grenade, and advent was picked off by GuardiaN, who had rotated to under the Third Floor."

"Without an Incendiary Grenade for Yellow Room, NiKo on top of the Yellow Room is like walking through an empty field; JamYoung and zhokiNg have both fallen————"

"Most crucially, the C4 has also been dropped at the Inner Site."

"Ori didn't choose to swing out of the Main Door Smoke Grenade to trade NiKo!"

1 minute 20 seconds, a 1V4 Clutch.

Jiaoyang thinks it over and chooses to save his weapon; if he were to force his way through the smoke now, he would be caught in a four-way Crossfire from the Yellow Room, the Bomb Site, the Third Floor, and the Pipe.

He has full Armor, an AK, and all of rain's utility items; there is no need to play this Clutch without a Bomb.

Jiaoyang uses the un-faded Main Door Smoke Grenade to walk silently toward the Big Warehouse on his right.

Before leaving cover, he releases the shift key, aiming at the Third Floor on the side of the Police Base, a wide swing, one bullet—

【Ori used AK-47 to get a Headshot kill on GuardiaN】

"This Pre-aiming!"

"He even anticipated that GuardiaN would be Holding the Point on the Third Floor!"

In the FaZe voice channel, GuardiaN sighs helplessly, and rain, who had already died, consoles him: "I died the same way just now."

"Forget it, let him save it." GuardiaN has lost his temper.

"No, send someone to the Third Floor," NiKo says.

The score is more important now; if the opponents lose this round, they will have to ECO the next, which means one more point.

In a guaranteed win, you can sacrifice a bit of Economy to eliminate this comeback point; it's best to get the kill after the countdown ends, directly preventing Ori from getting a loss bonus.

olofmeister knows what NiKo means; the Third Floor can also watch the Bomb, and he can pick up the sniper rifle GuardiaN dropped. Furthermore, he can assist in clearing weapons Outside.

He goes straight down the Pipe, runs past the Iron Plate, reaches the Third Floor, cautiously aims at every spot Jiaoyang might be positioned, and finally gets onto the Third Floor.

"Outside is clear, he might have gone to Police Base!" olofmeister peeked simply, not discovering Jiaoyang rotating; perhaps he had already run away, after all, no one would be foolish enough to wait in Big Warehouse to be cleared.

"If he's gone, then forget it," NiKo sighed.

There was no other way; to win, it was impossible to give up defending the Bomb.

At this moment, there was no more information on Ori, so it was even more impossible to blindly hunt for weapons.

With the ninety-degree crossfire between the dead pipe and the Pipe, olofmeister on the Third Floor only needed to protect himself.

The remaining time was all garbage time.

As it turned out, in these last few seconds, just as FaZe was discussing how to counter the Hero AK in the next round, a gunshot rang out from the Third Floor—bang!

【Ori used AK-47 to get a Headshot kill on olofmeister】

olofmeister was startled, not even managing to call out the spot.

NiKo shrunk directly into the Pipe.

There wasn't enough time left! As long as he didn't peek, Ori couldn't kill all the Counter-Terrorists to win!

In the end, of course, VG still lost this round.

However, Jiaoyang had an extra sniper rifle in his hands.

"So steady! Jiaoyang," advent praised.

"Damn, I couldn't hold back; you knew someone was on the Third Floor and still dragged it out until you heard the weapon-switching sound before peeking," aumaN also exclaimed.

Jiaoyang smiled; since olofmeister hadn't noticed he was on the other side of the Iron Plate wall, he had the timing to catch the weapon switch.

This was much steadier than risking a gamble that the opponent wouldn't hold the angle.

The odds of winning this round were truly too small; even if the opponents let him pick up the Bomb, he wouldn't have a chance to plant it, so it was better to upgrade his weapon.

6:12, after losing the Long Gun Round, VG's Economy was a bit awkward.

Jiaoyang had no money for saving his weapon, only having a sniper rifle and utility, while the others only had about 3000 in cash.

A full buy meant fewer utility items, but a Half Buy was a pity.

The most critical thing was that, assuming they lost this round, they would face the same predicament again.

In such a critical round, An Wenxin naturally called a timeout in advance.

"We can't Half Buy, otherwise the Economy will still be unbalanced."

"The problem this round stems from insufficient utility; NiKo on the yellow room wasn't restricted, so we can't save money on utility anymore."

"Commander and aumaN, you two need to make a sacrifice."

The two nodded; this was where VG differed from other clubs.

In other clubs, the relationship between the Coach and the players was a question mark; some powerful players could even kick the Coach directly.

But VG's personnel composition was extremely rich: JamYoung was a newcomer, zhokiNg was a silent gunman, and advent was a hardworking Commander.

aumaN, as a floater, was even more 100% obedient to the Commander, as long as he wasn't kicked.

Jiaoyang? If he had any opinions, he wouldn't even need to speak; VGCS would simply vanish.

Since Jiaoyang didn't oppose An Wenxin's proposal, it had a certain feasibility!

advent and aumaN directly gave up buying Armor, taking full utility + two AKs.

They only had two Tec9s in their hands provided by their teammates.

In this way, they were short two flashbangs, but JamYoung and zhokiNg's weapon advantage was still guaranteed.

However, VG used their actions to tell everyone that they weren't short of two flashbangs.

【GuardiaN used AWP to kill advent】

【olofmeister used AUG to get a Headshot kill on aumaN】

After using utility to harass Outside, advent and aumaN, who jumped and peeked from the Iron Plate, directly used their bodies to fill the gap in utility—

【JamYoung used AK-47 to get a Headshot kill on GuardiaN】

【zhokiNg used AK-47 to get a Headshot kill on olofmeister】

Short on flashes, right? We are the flashes!

Furthermore, in the voice channel, Jiaoyang's voice sounded puzzled: "This flashbang is way too familiar, isn't it?"

Watching the flashbang explode in Big Warehouse, his first reaction wasn't to dodge, but to count silently before firing.

【Ori used AWP to kill NiKo (while Blinded)】

Sure enough, it was exactly the same as it had been in his dream.

Sure enough, it was exactly the same as it had been in the dream.

>